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Bangkok City is probably Orange Caramel’s least-known single, which is a crying shame; it’s one of their best, and definitely their most transformative.

At this point in their careers, Orange Caramel had released Magic Girl and A-ing, two very addictive songs with an incredibly similar J-Pop style that garnered them a sizable, if very niche, audience. They would soon turn that style on its head with their next release.

Bangkok City shares a lot of elements with classic Europop/Eurotrance, elements which would continue into their future releases. While pre-Bangkok City Orange Caramel were in danger of being typecast as J-Pop wannabes, this song set them on a track towards more experimental efforts, which would pay off with songs like Shanghai Romance:

And Lipstick:

And even more, which we’ll discuss later.

This is Orange Caramel week, an entire week dedicated to discussing one of the more fascinating girl groups to ever exist in K-Pop. (And, incidentally, one of my favorites.)